Congo: Al Jazeera banned for interview with M23 rebel
The Congolese government banned the Al Jazeera news outlet on Thursday 9th over its interview with the leader of a violent rebel group.
Reported by the Associated Press on Thursday 9th, the Qatari broadcasting outlet interviewed Bertand Bisimwa, the leader of M23 in a move which Muyaya, a government spokesperson, described as “tantamount to an apology for terrorism and totally unacceptable”.
In the Al Jazeera interview, Bisimwa “blamed the government in the capital, Kinshasa, for violating an August ceasefire and claimed that M23 is waging an “existential war”,
In addition, Congo’s justice minister threatened journalists who report on terrorist organisations, like the M23, with the death penalty, despite their being no official law banning the media from covering rebel groups.
However, Congo’s media regulatory body on Tuesday 8th also warned three French news organisations over their coverage of the M23 rebels.
M23 – the March 23rd Movement – is, according to the Associated Press, the most prominent of over 100 armed groups operating on the Rwandan-Congolese border where more than 1 million inhabitants were displaced by fighting last year.
They are considered to be a Rwandan-backed militia movement comprised primarily of defectors of the Congolese national Armed Forces.
There has been no comment from Al Jazeera so far, but the decision has been denounced by opposition leaders on the ground of free speech and expression.
